Catch for burial-caskets



(ModeL) W. O. LANGENAU.

CATCH FOR BURIAL OAfiKBTS. No. 281,277. Patented July 1'7, 1883.

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UNITED STATES *ATENT Critics.

VILLIAM O. LANGENAU, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

CATCH FOR BURlAL-CASKETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N O. 251,277, dated July 17, 1883.

Application filed May 7,1863. (Model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. LANGENAU, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and Improved Burial-Casket Catch; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and complete description thereof.

The improvement above alluded to in burialcasket catches or locks consists of a stud pro- IO jecting from the side of the plate, to which the slide and hook of the lock are attached, which stud, together with the hook of the lock, passes through the opening in the catch plate on closing the lid or cover of the casket.- The object of said stud, in its connection with the catchplate, is to keep the opening therein at all times in such relation to the hook that it shall be free to enter the opening for locking the casket and retaining it locked, and that the hook may be easily withdrawn from the opening for unlocking the casket, as the case may be.

A further and more full description of the aforesaid improvement will be found in the following specification, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, making a part of the same, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent the two opposite sides of the catch or look. Fig. 3 is an end view. Fig. 4. is a view of the rear edge of the catch or lock.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several views.

This invention is an improvement on a burialcasket catch or look for which a patent was granted to me April 10, 1883.

Owing to the shrinking of the wood of which burial-caskets are made, the lock or catch by which the lid or cover thereof is fastened becomes inefiicient for that pupose, for the reason that the cover to which the slide and hook of the lock are secured has shrunk so much as to prevent the hook or bolt of the look from entering the hole in the catch-plate fixed to thebody of the casket; or, if the hook can enter therein, the shrinking of the material of the casket has been such as to prevent the hook from being caught by the plate, so that the cover cannot be made fast or locked, and if once looked it has become unlocked by the shrinking of the wood.

To prevent the shrinking of the material from interfering with the operation of the lock is the object of this improvement, and for that purpose is the stud above alluded to, forming held in position by a guide, D, as seen in the drawings.

E is a spring coiled around the stem of the slide, and by which the slide is pushed forward in the direction of the arrow, that the hook F may catch upon the plate G when pushed through the hole in the plate for that purpose.

H is the stud hereinbefore referred to. Said stud may be struck up from the plate A on punching the hole therein, the stud being the bar punched out but not out off from the plate.

The stud, however, as shown in the drawings,

is a separate part and riveted to the plate. It will be observed that the end of the stud is pointed, that it may readily enter the hole H in. the catcl1-plate G. The width of the stud is such as to freely enter the hole without crowding. The end of the hook and that of the stud are turned toward each other, as seen in Fig. 4, that they mayboth enter the hole in the plate G without trouble. I

Practically the application of the catch or look for the purpose specified is as follows: The plate A is secured to the cover of the casket, and the plate G to the body thereof, so that on shutting down the cover the hook F and the stud will together enter the hole in the plate G. The hook, by virtue of the spring, will catch upon the edge of the hole of the plate, as seen in Fig. 1, and lock the cover to the casket, while the stud by the side of the hook willprevent the shrinking of the cover from drawing the plate G from its proper relation to the hook, so thatit cannot become detached therefrom without first pushing in the slide for that purpose, nor can the cover or the body of the casket so shrink as to prevent the hook from entering the plate. The relation of the plate G and the plate A is maintained by the means of the stud, which, as before said, prevents the two parts of the casket from so shrinking as to prevent the action of the lock or catch-that is to say, the hook and the catch-plate must remain in looking relation to each other, as the two plate G, substantially as described, and for the parts are retained in operative connection by purpose set forth. IO

means of the studs. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in What I claim as my invention, and desire to presence of two Witnesses.

5 secure by Letters Patent, is XVILLIAM G. LANGENAU.

In a lock or catch for locking burial-caskets, Witnesses: thestud H, forming a part of the plate A, in W. H. BURRIDGE, combination with the slide, spring, and catch- J. H. BURRIDGE. 

